1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 of worship rising up and up and up from this room 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:07,000 into the very throne room of God. 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:10,620 And I believe God is pleased 4 00:00:10,620 --> 00:00:15,040 and God inhabits the worship of his people. 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:15,880 Amen. 6 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,640 I've been reading a book entitled Epicenter. 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:22,840 I hope that if you've not seen that book yet, 8 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:24,440 you might get a copy of it and read it. 9 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,960 It's a terrific book written by Joel Rosenberg. 10 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,520 He's talking about the world situation 11 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:36,480 and how it potentially flows right into the fulfillment 12 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,360 of prophecy which could be fulfilled 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,120 within the next few months in our generation 14 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,400 or perhaps yet still in the future. 15 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,560 But for the first time in 2,500 years, 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,960 the political situation in the world is such 17 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,640 that the specific prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,280 could now be fulfilled. 19 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:01,680 Very interesting book. 20 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,840 But in it, he's recounting how God is working in our world. 21 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,160 He goes back to one of his earlier books, which was fiction, 22 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:13,760 and he tells again a story which he affirms in this book 23 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,920 was actually a true story that was told to him. 24 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,620 He talks about two Christians who were driving 25 00:01:20,620 --> 00:01:22,320 through the mountains of Iran 26 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,000 with a car full of Bibles. 27 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,800 And this happened just a few years ago 28 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,880 with a car full of Bibles. 29 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,600 Suddenly, their steering wheel jams 30 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,320 and they have to slam on the brakes 31 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:37,880 to keep from driving off the side of the road. 32 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,600 When they look up, they see an old man knocking 33 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,480 on their window asking if they have the books. 34 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,840 What books they ask? 35 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,280 The books Jesus sent me down here to get 36 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:52,980 the old man replies. 37 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,560 He goes on to explain that Jesus recently came to him 38 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,980 in a dream and told him to follow. 39 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,360 When he awoke, he found out that everyone 40 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,160 in his mountain village had had the same dream. 41 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:14,560 They were all brand new followers of Jesus, 42 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,020 but they did not know what to do next. 43 00:02:17,020 --> 00:02:21,520 Then the old man had another dream 44 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,320 in which Jesus told him to go down the mountain 45 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,320 and wait by the road for someone to bring the books 46 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,200 that would explain how to be Christ followers. 47 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,040 He obeyed and suddenly two men with a car full of Bibles 48 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,840 came down the road to a stop right in front of him. 49 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,840 Folks, God is at work in our world today. 50 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,240 Rosenberg says that he received that story firsthand 51 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,960 from a person who directs a ministry 52 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,960 in that part of the world who knows 53 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:58,320 the people that happened to. 54 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,160 That person who heads that ministry 55 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:03,560 is one of our missionaries. 56 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,920 Rosenberg recounts what God is doing in the Muslim world 57 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:12,160 that there are more Muslims today being converted 58 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,800 to faith in Jesus Christ than at any time 59 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:17,820 in the last 1500 years. 60 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,600 I know we read about the Muslim fundamentalists 61 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,200 and their threat to our culture and to our nation 62 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:27,900 and that's very real. 63 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,920 And they do intend to enforce the laws of Islam 64 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:35,120 on us by the sword. 65 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:36,260 That is true. 66 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:41,260 It is true, sadly, that England and France and Canada 67 00:03:43,460 --> 00:03:47,260 within the generation of some of us sitting right here today 68 00:03:47,260 --> 00:03:52,020 will all be Muslim dominated because of the birth rate 69 00:03:52,020 --> 00:03:52,860 in those lands. 70 00:03:52,860 --> 00:03:54,700 But let me tell you what is also true. 71 00:03:56,020 --> 00:03:58,940 In one of the most populous countries in the world, 72 00:03:58,940 --> 00:04:02,380 in Southeast Asia where the Muslims aren't controlled today, 73 00:04:02,380 --> 00:04:05,620 at the rate of the growth of conversed Jesus Christ 74 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:08,700 in that country, that nation will be a Christian nation 75 00:04:08,700 --> 00:04:09,900 within our generation. 76 00:04:12,220 --> 00:04:13,780 If it keeps up like it is now, 77 00:04:15,620 --> 00:04:17,940 God is at work in our world today. 78 00:04:17,940 --> 00:04:19,820 He is at work in those areas of the world 79 00:04:19,820 --> 00:04:22,900 that are most war-torn, Baghdad, and Tehran 80 00:04:24,300 --> 00:04:26,700 with many people coming to faith in Christ. 81 00:04:26,700 --> 00:04:28,860 It is said that in the country of Iran, 82 00:04:28,860 --> 00:04:31,100 more people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ 83 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:32,420 today than ever before. 84 00:04:32,420 --> 00:04:34,820 We don't hear about that. 85 00:04:35,660 --> 00:04:38,660 What we need to understand is that God is at work 86 00:04:38,660 --> 00:04:42,140 in our world today and you and I live in the most exciting 87 00:04:42,140 --> 00:04:45,820 generation, I think, since the first century of the church. 88 00:04:47,540 --> 00:04:50,540 God is doing things in our world today 89 00:04:50,540 --> 00:04:55,540 that previous generations would not have dreamed about, 90 00:04:56,500 --> 00:04:57,540 but he's doing it. 91 00:04:57,540 --> 00:05:02,060 And you and I have the privilege of being a part 92 00:05:02,060 --> 00:05:06,180 of what God is doing among the nations. 93 00:05:06,180 --> 00:05:11,060 God has purpose to call out a people for his namesake 94 00:05:11,060 --> 00:05:13,700 from the nations of the earth. 95 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:20,900 This work that God is about might be done through angels 96 00:05:22,180 --> 00:05:26,380 or some other means, but it is God's good pleasure 97 00:05:26,380 --> 00:05:28,500 to do his work through human vessels. 98 00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:33,500 Notice that even though God gave that man in Iran a dream, 99 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:38,180 he sent two people along in a car 100 00:05:38,180 --> 00:05:39,740 that was filled with Bibles. 101 00:05:40,940 --> 00:05:42,740 They had to do their part too. 102 00:05:43,780 --> 00:05:48,780 God has a way to do his work and it is through us. 103 00:05:50,060 --> 00:05:52,220 That is God's means. 104 00:05:52,220 --> 00:05:54,260 It's amazing, isn't it? 105 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:58,620 That God chooses to limit himself to some degree, 106 00:05:58,620 --> 00:06:02,660 to the using imperfect people like you and me, 107 00:06:02,660 --> 00:06:05,220 people who are the nobodies that we were talking about 108 00:06:05,220 --> 00:06:07,940 last week in the text in Corinthians. 109 00:06:07,940 --> 00:06:10,340 The people that God deliberately chooses 110 00:06:10,340 --> 00:06:12,540 so that he can make the wisdom of the world 111 00:06:12,540 --> 00:06:14,060 to appear foolish. 112 00:06:15,940 --> 00:06:18,740 The apostle Paul was as amazed as anyone 113 00:06:18,740 --> 00:06:20,780 that God would choose somebody like him. 114 00:06:20,780 --> 00:06:24,380 We see him mostly post conversion, 115 00:06:24,380 --> 00:06:27,780 but pre conversion, Paul was a pretty mean guy. 116 00:06:29,060 --> 00:06:31,900 We might compare him in some sense to terrorists. 117 00:06:33,340 --> 00:06:35,500 Paul himself says, I thank Christ Jesus, 118 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:38,580 our Lord who's given me strength to do his work. 119 00:06:38,580 --> 00:06:42,220 He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him. 120 00:06:42,220 --> 00:06:45,340 Even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ, 121 00:06:45,340 --> 00:06:48,660 in my insolence I persecuted his people. 122 00:06:48,660 --> 00:06:52,100 But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance 123 00:06:52,100 --> 00:06:52,940 and unbelief. 124 00:06:52,940 --> 00:06:56,980 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was. 125 00:06:56,980 --> 00:06:59,540 He filled me with the faith and love 126 00:06:59,540 --> 00:07:01,860 that comes from Christ Jesus. 127 00:07:02,820 --> 00:07:07,060 Paul was amazed that God would use someone like him. 128 00:07:09,820 --> 00:07:10,780 In our text for today, 129 00:07:10,780 --> 00:07:13,060 which is 1 Corinthians chapter two, 130 00:07:13,060 --> 00:07:15,780 and I invite you to open your Bible there. 131 00:07:15,780 --> 00:07:19,340 Paul recounts for us how God used him 132 00:07:19,340 --> 00:07:21,220 in the city of Corinth. 133 00:07:21,220 --> 00:07:22,300 What happened there? 134 00:07:24,140 --> 00:07:27,220 We notice here three actions of Paul. 135 00:07:27,220 --> 00:07:28,940 And as we trace these actions, 136 00:07:28,940 --> 00:07:32,180 as we think about these actions of Paul, 137 00:07:32,180 --> 00:07:33,900 we're going to find that they illustrate 138 00:07:33,900 --> 00:07:36,860 what every Christian's party is in the work of God. 139 00:07:38,380 --> 00:07:42,100 We're going to discover what God wants you and me to do 140 00:07:42,100 --> 00:07:46,460 to join him in his work in the world. 141 00:07:46,460 --> 00:07:48,020 When I came to you, brothers, 142 00:07:48,020 --> 00:07:50,780 I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom 143 00:07:50,780 --> 00:07:54,220 as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 144 00:07:55,460 --> 00:07:58,180 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you 145 00:07:58,180 --> 00:08:03,180 except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 146 00:08:03,220 --> 00:08:07,140 I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling. 147 00:08:08,060 --> 00:08:10,860 My message and my preaching were not with wise 148 00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:12,140 and persuasive words, 149 00:08:12,140 --> 00:08:15,780 but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power 150 00:08:16,740 --> 00:08:19,980 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, 151 00:08:19,980 --> 00:08:21,980 but on God's power. 152 00:08:23,260 --> 00:08:26,340 The first action I notice in the text is that Paul says, 153 00:08:26,340 --> 00:08:28,500 when I came to you, 154 00:08:29,660 --> 00:08:30,780 when I came to you, 155 00:08:31,740 --> 00:08:33,580 if I'm going to participate with God 156 00:08:33,580 --> 00:08:35,100 in his work in the world, 157 00:08:35,100 --> 00:08:37,700 I am to go. 158 00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:40,980 If you're following along on your yellow outline, 159 00:08:40,980 --> 00:08:44,140 which I hope you are, that's the first fill in. 160 00:08:44,140 --> 00:08:45,580 If I'm going to work with God 161 00:08:45,580 --> 00:08:48,620 in what he's doing in our world today, I am to go. 162 00:08:49,740 --> 00:08:53,140 Jesus the Lord of course gave us the orders. 163 00:08:53,140 --> 00:08:55,140 For example, in Mark chapter 16, 164 00:08:55,140 --> 00:08:57,860 he says go into all the world 165 00:08:57,860 --> 00:09:00,460 and preach the good news to all creation. 166 00:09:02,020 --> 00:09:04,940 Paul went to Corinth, 167 00:09:04,940 --> 00:09:07,100 not only because Jesus had said what he did 168 00:09:07,100 --> 00:09:08,140 before his ascension, 169 00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:10,460 but because Paul himself had received 170 00:09:10,460 --> 00:09:12,860 a personal commission from Jesus. 171 00:09:12,860 --> 00:09:15,060 Much like the man in Iran or others 172 00:09:15,060 --> 00:09:17,180 who are having the same experience, 173 00:09:17,180 --> 00:09:20,740 Paul says that he had a vision of Jesus. 174 00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:24,100 And Jesus said to him for this purpose, 175 00:09:24,100 --> 00:09:25,860 I've appeared to you, 176 00:09:25,860 --> 00:09:28,100 to appoint you a minister and a witness, 177 00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:30,820 not only to do the things which you have seen, 178 00:09:30,820 --> 00:09:35,820 but also to do the things in which I will appear to you, 179 00:09:35,820 --> 00:09:38,260 delivering you from the Jewish people 180 00:09:38,260 --> 00:09:41,260 and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you. 181 00:09:42,580 --> 00:09:45,380 God says, Paul, I want you to go. 182 00:09:45,380 --> 00:09:48,460 I will deliver you from all of those who are enemies, 183 00:09:48,460 --> 00:09:52,300 but I am sending you Paul, especially to the Gentiles. 184 00:09:54,540 --> 00:09:55,820 Where's God sending you? 185 00:09:57,460 --> 00:09:59,500 In the last 2000 years, 186 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:03,100 some 50 generations have come and gone. 187 00:10:03,100 --> 00:10:07,220 And God's work in the world is still unfinished 188 00:10:07,220 --> 00:10:09,980 and God is still at work. 189 00:10:11,140 --> 00:10:13,460 And yet today, over a billion, 190 00:10:13,460 --> 00:10:17,780 a billion people have never heard 191 00:10:17,780 --> 00:10:20,020 the good news of Jesus Christ. 192 00:10:21,580 --> 00:10:25,060 Of the more than 6,000 languages of the earth, 193 00:10:25,060 --> 00:10:33,560 some 2,000 still have no part of the Bible in their language. 194 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:37,660 Almost 4,000 people groups or ethnic groups in the world 195 00:10:37,660 --> 00:10:40,580 are still waiting for their very first 196 00:10:40,580 --> 00:10:43,460 visible, functioning, viable, 197 00:10:43,460 --> 00:10:49,540 witnessing local church to be planted in their midst. 198 00:10:49,540 --> 00:10:52,540 And while all of that is true, 199 00:10:52,540 --> 00:10:55,980 about 99% of the efforts of the church 200 00:10:57,260 --> 00:11:00,380 are on people who have already heard 201 00:11:00,380 --> 00:11:02,980 and have the gospel in their possession. 202 00:11:05,420 --> 00:11:08,220 That tells me that there's a big job out there yet to do. 203 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:12,700 The command to go is for all believers to heed. 204 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:14,620 In Matthew 28, Jesus put it this way, 205 00:11:14,620 --> 00:11:18,500 as you are going, make disciples. 206 00:11:18,500 --> 00:11:22,020 The assumption Jesus makes is that we are going. 207 00:11:22,020 --> 00:11:23,900 That is, in the course of our living, 208 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:27,100 whatever we're about, make disciples. 209 00:11:28,540 --> 00:11:30,700 That is how God's work is going to get done. 210 00:11:31,780 --> 00:11:35,140 That's how God is going to call out a people 211 00:11:35,140 --> 00:11:37,740 for his namesake among all the tribes of the earth. 212 00:11:37,740 --> 00:11:39,140 And I remind you of the vision 213 00:11:39,140 --> 00:11:41,100 that John had in Revelation 7. 214 00:11:42,020 --> 00:11:44,820 He says, after these things, I looked 215 00:11:44,820 --> 00:11:47,820 and behold a great multitude which no one could count 216 00:11:47,820 --> 00:11:52,820 from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues 217 00:11:53,780 --> 00:11:57,620 standing before the throne and before the Lamb. 218 00:11:59,060 --> 00:12:02,100 That is what God is about. 219 00:12:03,420 --> 00:12:06,140 And he wants you and me to be a part of that. 220 00:12:06,140 --> 00:12:08,860 If I'm going to be, then I need to go. 221 00:12:09,780 --> 00:12:13,260 Paul went, Paul came to the city of Corinth. 222 00:12:13,260 --> 00:12:14,900 That was part of his strategy. 223 00:12:14,900 --> 00:12:19,500 Has God developed in your heart, in your mind, 224 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:23,100 a strategy for reaching those who are in your neighborhood 225 00:12:24,260 --> 00:12:27,900 or your school, your circle of friends? 226 00:12:29,540 --> 00:12:32,780 Because as we're going about the course of our lives, 227 00:12:32,780 --> 00:12:37,140 going to school, visiting with friends, shopping, 228 00:12:37,140 --> 00:12:40,860 going to work, that we're to make disciples. 229 00:12:40,860 --> 00:12:44,500 My part in God's work is to go. 230 00:12:45,380 --> 00:12:48,100 Would you say that sentence with me, please? 231 00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:51,420 My part in God's work is to go. 232 00:12:51,420 --> 00:12:52,540 Amen. 233 00:12:52,540 --> 00:12:57,540 And so the question is where will you go in 2008? 234 00:13:01,500 --> 00:13:03,700 It may be where no one has gone before. 235 00:13:03,700 --> 00:13:08,700 It may be to another tribe, another ethnic group. 236 00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:15,820 It may be across the street or into the lunch room 237 00:13:15,820 --> 00:13:19,460 where you can sit down with some people and talk with them. 238 00:13:19,460 --> 00:13:23,820 Where does God want you to go so that you can participate 239 00:13:23,820 --> 00:13:25,980 in his work in the world? 240 00:13:25,980 --> 00:13:27,780 You say, does God want me to participate? 241 00:13:27,780 --> 00:13:29,580 Does he need me? 242 00:13:29,580 --> 00:13:30,500 God does. 243 00:13:30,500 --> 00:13:35,260 He chooses to need you, to want you, to use you. 244 00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:41,100 Paul says, when I came to you, 245 00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:43,740 and then he goes on to say in his second action, 246 00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:48,260 I proclaimed to you, I proclaimed to you. 247 00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:50,020 If I'm going to participate with God 248 00:13:50,020 --> 00:13:53,820 in his work in the world, I am to tell. 249 00:13:53,820 --> 00:13:56,620 I am to tell just as Paul did. 250 00:13:56,620 --> 00:13:57,980 What am I to tell? 251 00:13:57,980 --> 00:14:01,820 Essentially the same message that Paul did, 252 00:14:01,820 --> 00:14:05,260 he calls it here in our text, the testimony about 253 00:14:05,260 --> 00:14:07,620 or the testimony of God. 254 00:14:08,460 --> 00:14:11,020 The word testimony is an interesting word. 255 00:14:11,020 --> 00:14:14,660 It means the mystery of God. 256 00:14:14,660 --> 00:14:17,140 It's the Greek word, marturion, 257 00:14:17,140 --> 00:14:19,860 from which we get our word mystery in English. 258 00:14:20,780 --> 00:14:23,900 It came from a verb that meant to shut the mouth 259 00:14:23,900 --> 00:14:27,740 and thus to keep a secret. 260 00:14:29,380 --> 00:14:32,380 Paul is saying that God had a secret 261 00:14:32,380 --> 00:14:35,540 that he never shared until now. 262 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:39,260 And that secret is what his intent is. 263 00:14:39,260 --> 00:14:42,180 And his intent is to have a people 264 00:14:42,180 --> 00:14:45,220 from all the tribes of the earth 265 00:14:45,220 --> 00:14:48,380 redeemed through the sacrifice of his son. 266 00:14:50,060 --> 00:14:52,660 What Paul means here by the testimony of God 267 00:14:52,660 --> 00:14:55,340 can be summed up in what he has said earlier 268 00:14:55,340 --> 00:14:58,100 that it is Christ crucified. 269 00:14:59,620 --> 00:15:01,940 He says that is the wisdom of God. 270 00:15:01,940 --> 00:15:05,060 It is Christ crucified. 271 00:15:05,060 --> 00:15:07,860 He's, oh, I know, to the pagan world, 272 00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:11,100 it sounds like just foolishness. 273 00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:14,340 That's how people look at the simple gospel of Jesus. 274 00:15:15,220 --> 00:15:16,140 It's foolishness. 275 00:15:16,140 --> 00:15:18,260 It doesn't really make sense. 276 00:15:19,300 --> 00:15:21,540 Man's pride is offended because it means 277 00:15:21,540 --> 00:15:24,220 that man is in need of someone intervening, 278 00:15:25,260 --> 00:15:27,460 coming into his life and rescuing him 279 00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:30,820 in a way that he cannot rescue himself. 280 00:15:30,820 --> 00:15:32,700 Man doesn't like that. 281 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:34,140 He says that's foolish. 282 00:15:35,220 --> 00:15:37,300 But that is the wisdom of God. 283 00:15:39,020 --> 00:15:42,420 And those who are religious like the Jews in particular 284 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:48,700 find a weak message because they expected the Christ 285 00:15:48,700 --> 00:15:52,140 to be powerful and to deliver them as a nation. 286 00:15:52,140 --> 00:15:55,780 How could a crucified Christ amount to anything 287 00:15:57,340 --> 00:15:59,220 that it is God's wisdom? 288 00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:03,980 You and I are to tell God's wisdom to our world, 289 00:16:03,980 --> 00:16:06,780 both Jew and Gentile. 290 00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:14,100 Jesus Christ crucified was Paul's only message 291 00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:15,500 among the Corinthians. 292 00:16:15,500 --> 00:16:17,500 Notice the singularity of it. 293 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,860 He says, I purpose not to know anything among you 294 00:16:20,860 --> 00:16:22,740 or to proclaim anything among you 295 00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:26,140 except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 296 00:16:27,420 --> 00:16:29,700 He did not mix it with something else. 297 00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:33,660 He did not add to it some foreign ideas. 298 00:16:33,660 --> 00:16:36,860 He did not bring human wisdom into it. 299 00:16:36,860 --> 00:16:41,260 And false teachers were already at work among these people. 300 00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:43,220 Paul says, I want you to remember 301 00:16:43,220 --> 00:16:44,940 the message I proclaimed to you. 302 00:16:44,940 --> 00:16:47,220 It was very, very simple. 303 00:16:47,220 --> 00:16:50,660 It was Jesus Christ and him crucified. 304 00:16:51,780 --> 00:16:54,620 Now that is the fountain of much truth, 305 00:16:54,620 --> 00:16:56,300 but that's the essence of it. 306 00:16:58,220 --> 00:17:01,220 Some of you may recognize the name of David Brainerd. 307 00:17:01,220 --> 00:17:04,860 There's a city in Minnesota named after David Brainerd, 308 00:17:04,860 --> 00:17:08,220 who was a famous missionary to the American Indians 309 00:17:08,220 --> 00:17:09,540 in another generation. 310 00:17:11,100 --> 00:17:15,940 In his journal, David Brainerd writes these words, 311 00:17:15,940 --> 00:17:20,500 I never got away from Jesus and him crucified in my preaching. 312 00:17:21,580 --> 00:17:24,620 I found that once these people were gripped 313 00:17:24,620 --> 00:17:28,180 by the great evangelical meaning of Christ's sacrifice 314 00:17:28,180 --> 00:17:32,780 on our behalf, I did not have to give them many instructions 315 00:17:32,780 --> 00:17:34,580 about changing their behavior. 316 00:17:36,580 --> 00:17:40,100 What Brainerd is saying is that when people understand 317 00:17:41,620 --> 00:17:44,540 what the love of God has provided for us, 318 00:17:44,540 --> 00:17:48,900 when they understand the sacrifice of Jesus 319 00:17:48,900 --> 00:17:51,660 and they believe on him, they come into a relationship 320 00:17:51,660 --> 00:17:53,340 with him, when they love him, 321 00:17:54,380 --> 00:17:57,580 he begins to change them from the inside out. 322 00:18:00,540 --> 00:18:02,580 That's God's wisdom. 323 00:18:02,580 --> 00:18:04,500 Man's wisdom cannot do that. 324 00:18:05,660 --> 00:18:07,740 Paul says, we've renounced the hidden things, 325 00:18:07,740 --> 00:18:11,180 hidden because of shame, but not walking in craftiness 326 00:18:11,180 --> 00:18:13,500 or adulterating the word of God. 327 00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:16,500 Folks, we must never adulterate the word of God. 328 00:18:17,780 --> 00:18:21,340 We must proclaim it, as Paul says. 329 00:18:21,340 --> 00:18:23,500 In another place he says, we are not like many 330 00:18:23,500 --> 00:18:27,380 peddling the word of God, but from sincerity, 331 00:18:27,380 --> 00:18:30,540 as from God we speak in Christ. 332 00:18:31,740 --> 00:18:34,260 We don't want to make merchandise of the word of God 333 00:18:34,260 --> 00:18:39,260 as some do, we want to tell the simple story of Jesus. 334 00:18:39,260 --> 00:18:41,620 How am I to tell it? 335 00:18:42,620 --> 00:18:44,460 Well, let's tell it like Paul did. 336 00:18:45,460 --> 00:18:48,620 First of all, I'm to tell the gospel message 337 00:18:49,660 --> 00:18:53,380 as God's specially sent messenger. 338 00:18:54,380 --> 00:18:56,500 God's specially sent messenger. 339 00:18:56,500 --> 00:18:58,340 Do you see yourself that way? 340 00:18:59,060 --> 00:19:01,460 Paul says, I proclaimed to you. 341 00:19:01,460 --> 00:19:04,380 That word proclaiming, I see myself as one 342 00:19:04,380 --> 00:19:06,940 who is specially sent, 343 00:19:06,940 --> 00:19:11,020 specially sent to deliver a message to you. 344 00:19:12,020 --> 00:19:15,500 What a great way for you and me to see our lives. 345 00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:18,500 Especially sent by God to somebody. 346 00:19:21,100 --> 00:19:24,380 We might use the paraphrase today of a newscaster. 347 00:19:26,580 --> 00:19:30,460 We don't make the news, although sometimes the media 348 00:19:30,460 --> 00:19:33,300 does seem to want to make the news, 349 00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:35,660 but really the job of a newscaster is simply 350 00:19:35,660 --> 00:19:38,220 to tell the story of what's happened. 351 00:19:40,100 --> 00:19:43,420 You and I are specially sent to do just that. 352 00:19:43,420 --> 00:19:47,500 I am also to deliver this message of the gospel 353 00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:49,540 as simply as possible. 354 00:19:50,780 --> 00:19:53,820 Paul says, I didn't come to you with eloquence. 355 00:19:53,820 --> 00:19:56,140 I didn't come to you with superior wisdom. 356 00:19:56,140 --> 00:20:00,740 I did not come to you with wise and persuasive words. 357 00:20:00,740 --> 00:20:04,380 I didn't try to entice you with arguments. 358 00:20:04,380 --> 00:20:08,060 I didn't come to you with authoritarian demands 359 00:20:08,060 --> 00:20:09,340 that you do something. 360 00:20:10,180 --> 00:20:14,180 He says, just simply, I told you about Christ crucified. 361 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,420 The point I really want to get across 362 00:20:17,420 --> 00:20:19,580 into your heart this morning is this. 363 00:20:19,580 --> 00:20:22,180 If you want to work with God in the world, 364 00:20:23,180 --> 00:20:25,660 it means that you're to tell. 365 00:20:25,660 --> 00:20:28,400 To tell, you don't have to be a theologian. 366 00:20:29,340 --> 00:20:31,020 You don't have to be a pastor. 367 00:20:31,020 --> 00:20:33,260 You don't have to be a missionary. 368 00:20:33,260 --> 00:20:35,020 All you have to be is you. 369 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:39,540 God's child, God specially sent one. 370 00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:46,340 The most effective way to communicate the simple gospel 371 00:20:46,340 --> 00:20:49,280 is to wrap it in your own life story. 372 00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:53,940 Just tell people the news. 373 00:20:53,940 --> 00:20:56,140 Here's what happened to me. 374 00:20:57,860 --> 00:20:59,820 And so we come to the summation statement 375 00:20:59,820 --> 00:21:00,820 for this part of the sermon. 376 00:21:00,820 --> 00:21:02,960 Would you say it with me please? 377 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,660 My part in God's work is to simply, 378 00:21:06,660 --> 00:21:11,340 compassionately pass on the message of Christ crucified. 379 00:21:11,340 --> 00:21:12,180 That's it. 380 00:21:13,060 --> 00:21:13,960 I am to go. 381 00:21:14,980 --> 00:21:15,980 I am to tell. 382 00:21:17,580 --> 00:21:20,460 Paul says also, and he reminds them, 383 00:21:20,460 --> 00:21:25,460 my message and my preaching were with the demonstration 384 00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:27,880 of the Spirit's power. 385 00:21:28,940 --> 00:21:30,300 It brings me to my third point, 386 00:21:30,300 --> 00:21:32,940 and that is that if I'm going to work with God in the world, 387 00:21:32,940 --> 00:21:35,500 there's one more thing I need to keep in mind. 388 00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:39,820 I am to go, I'm to tell, and I am to trust. 389 00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:41,780 I am to trust. 390 00:21:41,780 --> 00:21:44,500 Because you see, to do God's work, 391 00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:47,460 I must depend upon the Holy Spirit. 392 00:21:49,780 --> 00:21:52,800 With Paul we share familiar hurdles. 393 00:21:54,020 --> 00:21:56,040 We have similar battles that Paul did. 394 00:21:57,460 --> 00:22:00,100 And Paul is very transparent here. 395 00:22:00,100 --> 00:22:03,540 He gives us men a good example. 396 00:22:03,540 --> 00:22:05,920 He tells how he felt. 397 00:22:07,580 --> 00:22:09,460 We guys have a hard time with this. 398 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,100 Paul says, I was with you in weakness. 399 00:22:15,540 --> 00:22:16,620 Weakness. 400 00:22:16,620 --> 00:22:20,400 Now what did Paul meant that he had bad eyesight 401 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,540 or some other physical frailty we don't know? 402 00:22:23,540 --> 00:22:26,740 It could be that he's talking about weariness 403 00:22:26,740 --> 00:22:28,500 from his travels. 404 00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:31,860 Maybe Paul felt discouraged, but whatever it was, 405 00:22:31,860 --> 00:22:33,860 he says, I was there with weakness. 406 00:22:33,860 --> 00:22:35,980 That's how I felt, very weak. 407 00:22:35,980 --> 00:22:37,180 Do you ever feel that way? 408 00:22:39,300 --> 00:22:41,180 He says, I was with you in fear. 409 00:22:42,020 --> 00:22:44,900 We don't think of Paul being afraid, but he was. 410 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,280 The Greek word is phobos. 411 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,100 We get our word phobia from it. 412 00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:53,580 He says, I was with you with phobias. 413 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,200 Now what was Paul afraid of? 414 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:02,100 He doesn't specifically tell us, but whatever it was, 415 00:23:02,100 --> 00:23:04,060 it produced an alarm in him. 416 00:23:05,420 --> 00:23:09,420 There was a mental and emotional state of panic 417 00:23:11,380 --> 00:23:13,880 on Paul's part when he was in Corinth. 418 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,080 Something was taking place. 419 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,580 It's hinted at, and we'll get there in a moment. 420 00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:22,420 Thirdly, he says, I was with you in much trembling. 421 00:23:22,420 --> 00:23:25,340 Notice the underscore of much trembling. 422 00:23:25,340 --> 00:23:28,980 Paul was so afraid in Corinth, 423 00:23:28,980 --> 00:23:32,460 he was literally shaking with fear. 424 00:23:33,380 --> 00:23:34,740 Have you ever felt this way? 425 00:23:36,340 --> 00:23:38,340 Especially as you're telling the story. 426 00:23:39,220 --> 00:23:44,140 In Acts 18, Luke tells us about Paul's experience 427 00:23:44,140 --> 00:23:46,460 in the city that Paul is referring to, 428 00:23:46,460 --> 00:23:48,540 and he says this much. 429 00:23:48,540 --> 00:23:55,540 One night, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision. 430 00:23:55,540 --> 00:23:57,540 He said, do not be afraid. 431 00:23:57,540 --> 00:23:59,540 Now, if the Lord said that to Paul, 432 00:23:59,540 --> 00:24:01,700 what does it mean Paul was? 433 00:24:01,700 --> 00:24:02,700 He was afraid. 434 00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:08,020 The Lord continued, he said, keep on speaking. 435 00:24:08,020 --> 00:24:09,500 Do not be silent. 436 00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:12,660 So if Paul was afraid, what was he tempted to do? 437 00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:16,180 Be quiet, not to tell. 438 00:24:16,180 --> 00:24:19,780 Jesus says, keep on speaking. 439 00:24:19,780 --> 00:24:22,860 Then he says, for I am with you, 440 00:24:22,860 --> 00:24:26,780 and no one is going to attack you and harm you. 441 00:24:26,780 --> 00:24:28,060 Attack you and harm you. 442 00:24:28,060 --> 00:24:29,700 What was Paul afraid of? 443 00:24:31,260 --> 00:24:33,140 Possibly being attacked. 444 00:24:34,660 --> 00:24:37,060 He had good reason for that fear if it was there. 445 00:24:37,980 --> 00:24:42,060 He says, Jesus says, I have many people in this city. 446 00:24:42,060 --> 00:24:43,460 Now you and I are like Paul. 447 00:24:43,460 --> 00:24:46,940 When we go out to tell the story to somebody else, 448 00:24:46,940 --> 00:24:48,060 we have fears. 449 00:24:49,300 --> 00:24:50,940 We feel weak in doing it. 450 00:24:52,420 --> 00:24:53,500 We feel incapable. 451 00:24:53,500 --> 00:24:54,420 What if they say this? 452 00:24:54,420 --> 00:24:55,460 What will I say? 453 00:24:56,460 --> 00:24:57,900 We have all of these fears. 454 00:24:59,060 --> 00:25:02,340 But like Paul, we share an available helper. 455 00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:05,500 We share an available helper. 456 00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:10,140 It is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. 457 00:25:10,140 --> 00:25:12,940 The Holy Spirit's power was demonstrated through Paul. 458 00:25:12,940 --> 00:25:16,220 Now whether this was through apostolic signs 459 00:25:17,660 --> 00:25:22,620 of miracles and wonders, Paul doesn't say here. 460 00:25:22,620 --> 00:25:24,740 Perhaps he has in mind something as simple 461 00:25:24,740 --> 00:25:28,180 as the Holy Spirit producing conviction 462 00:25:29,780 --> 00:25:33,180 and lifting the minds and the hearts of these pagans 463 00:25:33,180 --> 00:25:36,580 out of their deep rootedness in that pagan stuff 464 00:25:36,580 --> 00:25:39,420 and the immorality that went along with it 465 00:25:39,420 --> 00:25:42,540 out of its superstition and its darkness. 466 00:25:42,540 --> 00:25:43,980 Its ignorance. 467 00:25:43,980 --> 00:25:46,940 The Holy Spirit awakening these people 468 00:25:46,940 --> 00:25:49,500 to see their need for Christ. 469 00:25:50,700 --> 00:25:53,260 Friends, that takes the Holy Spirit's power. 470 00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:59,020 You and I can go and tell, but only the Holy Spirit 471 00:25:59,020 --> 00:26:04,020 can awaken the conscience to the need of Christ as Savior. 472 00:26:05,940 --> 00:26:07,820 Paul says, I was with you. 473 00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:12,660 This was my condition, but the Holy Spirit was there. 474 00:26:12,660 --> 00:26:13,940 And he worked through me. 475 00:26:15,300 --> 00:26:17,100 Why does Paul point this out? 476 00:26:17,980 --> 00:26:20,700 Because he does not want them to be dependent upon him 477 00:26:20,700 --> 00:26:22,700 or any other human being. 478 00:26:22,700 --> 00:26:26,820 He wants their faith to rest upon Christ alone. 479 00:26:28,180 --> 00:26:32,540 You know, there's a subtle temptation that we face 480 00:26:32,540 --> 00:26:33,940 when we talk to people. 481 00:26:33,940 --> 00:26:38,260 And that temptation is to make them followers of us. 482 00:26:39,580 --> 00:26:41,940 And sometimes even dependent upon us. 483 00:26:44,060 --> 00:26:45,180 Paul seems to be saying here, 484 00:26:45,180 --> 00:26:47,780 I don't want any people following me 485 00:26:47,780 --> 00:26:49,420 or depending upon me. 486 00:26:50,340 --> 00:26:52,780 He is saying, here's what I was like. 487 00:26:52,780 --> 00:26:54,740 It was God who did the work 488 00:26:54,740 --> 00:26:58,180 and I want your faith to rest upon him, not me. 489 00:26:59,660 --> 00:27:01,780 And so it brings me to my summation statement 490 00:27:01,780 --> 00:27:03,780 which I ask you again to read with me 491 00:27:03,780 --> 00:27:05,740 from your notes are on the screen. 492 00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:08,260 My part in God's work, you see that? 493 00:27:08,260 --> 00:27:09,540 Let's read it together. 494 00:27:09,540 --> 00:27:14,540 My part in God's work is to be the Spirit's channel 495 00:27:14,540 --> 00:27:18,440 through whom he can release his power. 496 00:27:20,020 --> 00:27:22,500 Was talking to one of the men of our church this week 497 00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:25,220 who told me such a great story. 498 00:27:25,220 --> 00:27:26,420 I asked him to write it down 499 00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:29,100 so I would have the gist of it. 500 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:31,860 He says, I met a business client of mine 501 00:27:31,860 --> 00:27:34,540 in Starbucks coffee shop. 502 00:27:34,540 --> 00:27:36,820 And she told me she was on the verge 503 00:27:36,820 --> 00:27:39,500 of a serious migraine headache 504 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:41,220 but she didn't have a migraine, 505 00:27:41,220 --> 00:27:43,260 her migraine medicine with her. 506 00:27:45,740 --> 00:27:49,620 I asked her if she would like me to pray for her. 507 00:27:50,660 --> 00:27:52,580 Now isn't that interesting? 508 00:27:52,580 --> 00:27:54,180 Would that have occurred to you? 509 00:27:56,020 --> 00:27:57,420 I'm not sure it would have occurred to me. 510 00:27:57,420 --> 00:27:58,900 I probably would have said, 511 00:27:58,900 --> 00:28:01,940 can we go get you some medicine? 512 00:28:03,540 --> 00:28:05,820 But this guy says, you know, I'm here 513 00:28:05,820 --> 00:28:07,620 and the Holy Spirit is here. 514 00:28:07,620 --> 00:28:10,220 And so he says, can I pray for you? 515 00:28:10,220 --> 00:28:11,660 This lady is not a Christian. 516 00:28:12,780 --> 00:28:14,980 She said, yes, she can pray for me. 517 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:16,140 So right there at Starbucks, 518 00:28:16,140 --> 00:28:18,620 they bowed their heads and Joe prayed. 519 00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:22,700 After I prayed for Jesus to help her, 520 00:28:22,700 --> 00:28:27,140 just seconds later, she had an astonished look on her face 521 00:28:27,140 --> 00:28:28,900 and her eyes opened wide, 522 00:28:28,900 --> 00:28:32,860 exclaiming that it had all just gone away. 523 00:28:33,700 --> 00:28:36,820 The nausea, the blurry peripheral vision 524 00:28:36,820 --> 00:28:38,620 and the pre-migraine headache, 525 00:28:38,620 --> 00:28:41,700 all gone just like that, she said. 526 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,140 She sat there and said it again, 527 00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:50,660 that it was all gone, that it had all gone away. 528 00:28:50,660 --> 00:28:55,660 The demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power. 529 00:29:01,900 --> 00:29:06,780 I wonder if we can look at simple events in our lives 530 00:29:06,780 --> 00:29:09,500 like this as opportunities, 531 00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:14,500 not only to tell, but to demonstrate the power of God. 532 00:29:14,660 --> 00:29:16,860 Now God doesn't always heal immediately, 533 00:29:16,860 --> 00:29:20,900 but what a great idea it is to say, can I pray for you? 534 00:29:22,700 --> 00:29:26,660 In this case, God demonstrated his power immediately. 535 00:29:28,260 --> 00:29:31,620 My part in God's work is to go 536 00:29:31,620 --> 00:29:34,460 and simply tell others the good news, 537 00:29:34,460 --> 00:29:39,460 trusting the Holy Spirit to do the converting in his time. 538 00:29:41,060 --> 00:29:43,100 I don't have to twist anybody's arm. 539 00:29:43,100 --> 00:29:45,500 I don't have to try to persuade them 540 00:29:45,500 --> 00:29:48,860 because I don't want them depending on me anyway. 541 00:29:50,180 --> 00:29:55,180 All I have to do is go, tell, and trust 542 00:29:55,580 --> 00:29:59,520 and get out of the way and let God do what God does. 543 00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:04,920 What do I need in order to work with God in the world? 544 00:30:06,260 --> 00:30:08,000 Well, it's not some great ability. 545 00:30:10,620 --> 00:30:13,580 It's not having celebrity and fame 546 00:30:13,580 --> 00:30:16,020 so that somebody will listen to you. 547 00:30:16,020 --> 00:30:19,300 It's not getting a degree in theology. 548 00:30:19,300 --> 00:30:22,000 Not a bad thing to do, but it's not necessary. 549 00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:27,180 My life doesn't have to get perfect 550 00:30:27,180 --> 00:30:29,620 before I can tell anybody, thank God for that, 551 00:30:29,620 --> 00:30:31,620 or I would never tell anybody anything. 552 00:30:34,220 --> 00:30:36,500 What do I need to do in order to work with God in the world? 553 00:30:36,500 --> 00:30:40,660 Simply make myself available to him. 554 00:30:40,660 --> 00:30:41,860 That's all I have to do. 555 00:30:41,860 --> 00:30:44,340 What hinders you from that? 556 00:30:48,620 --> 00:30:50,540 This last week I was preparing my message 557 00:30:50,540 --> 00:30:53,540 and I decided it was time to get something to eat 558 00:30:53,540 --> 00:30:58,140 and so I left and went to where I had my lunch 559 00:30:58,140 --> 00:31:00,460 and I need to tell some of you for your relief 560 00:31:00,460 --> 00:31:05,260 that I have upgraded myself for cheap lunches. 561 00:31:05,260 --> 00:31:08,140 I did fairly frequently go to Costco 562 00:31:09,340 --> 00:31:11,180 because of the free floor show there 563 00:31:11,180 --> 00:31:12,940 that you get along with the food. 564 00:31:13,940 --> 00:31:17,220 The food's a great price and it's not bad, 565 00:31:17,220 --> 00:31:19,120 but this isn't the weather for Costco. 566 00:31:20,020 --> 00:31:22,700 So I have stepped up and I went to McDonald's 567 00:31:24,580 --> 00:31:27,700 and I had my lunch, did a little bit of work 568 00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:30,140 I wanted to do, some more studying there at McDonald's, 569 00:31:30,140 --> 00:31:33,340 went out to get in the car and as I sat down in the car, 570 00:31:33,340 --> 00:31:35,540 I glanced to my right out through the window 571 00:31:35,540 --> 00:31:38,020 and I saw a young lady walking toward the car 572 00:31:38,020 --> 00:31:40,300 waving at me and I had seen her, 573 00:31:40,300 --> 00:31:42,900 just glanced at her quickly, she had gotten out of a truck 574 00:31:42,900 --> 00:31:44,540 as I was coming out of the restaurant 575 00:31:45,660 --> 00:31:48,100 and I got into the car and she had walked to my car 576 00:31:48,100 --> 00:31:49,980 and she was waving at me and I thought 577 00:31:49,980 --> 00:31:51,940 I'd better wave back, that could be somebody 578 00:31:51,940 --> 00:31:53,580 from the Shawnee campus, I don't know, 579 00:31:53,580 --> 00:31:55,580 so I wave back at her. 580 00:31:55,580 --> 00:31:56,860 Then I looked at her and I realized, 581 00:31:56,860 --> 00:31:59,100 I don't know her at all. 582 00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:01,940 And so I rolled down my window, I said, 583 00:32:01,940 --> 00:32:03,020 can I help you? 584 00:32:03,020 --> 00:32:10,020 And she said, could I have a few dollars to get something to eat? 585 00:32:10,020 --> 00:32:12,020 And I said, well, why are you hungry? 586 00:32:12,020 --> 00:32:15,020 She said, well, I haven't eaten in a long time. 587 00:32:18,020 --> 00:32:20,020 I said, well, where are your parents? 588 00:32:21,020 --> 00:32:23,020 And she said, I'm homeless 589 00:32:25,020 --> 00:32:28,020 and I'm living with my boyfriend in his truck. 590 00:32:28,020 --> 00:32:32,020 As she unfolded a little bit more of her story, 591 00:32:32,020 --> 00:32:37,020 I came to find out that she's really being looked for by the CPS 592 00:32:37,020 --> 00:32:41,020 that they don't want her in her home with her mother 593 00:32:41,020 --> 00:32:44,020 because she's a bad influence on her siblings, they say. 594 00:32:44,020 --> 00:32:47,020 They want her to go live with her father. 595 00:32:47,020 --> 00:32:49,020 She said, I will not live with my father 596 00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:51,020 because he beat me when I was a child. 597 00:32:53,020 --> 00:32:55,020 She felt her only option is to run away 598 00:32:55,020 --> 00:32:58,020 and that's what she's done. 599 00:33:00,020 --> 00:33:02,020 And I thought to myself, as she said, she's hungry 600 00:33:02,020 --> 00:33:04,020 and I had money in my pocket, I can buy her food. 601 00:33:04,020 --> 00:33:07,020 I thought to myself, I don't want to give her money 602 00:33:07,020 --> 00:33:10,020 because I don't know what she's going to do with the cash, right? 603 00:33:10,020 --> 00:33:12,020 So I'll go in and buy it. 604 00:33:12,020 --> 00:33:16,020 Oh, but what will happen if I go in and buy her food 605 00:33:16,020 --> 00:33:19,020 and somebody sees me buying this young woman food? 606 00:33:20,020 --> 00:33:22,020 You know what I'm saying? 607 00:33:22,020 --> 00:33:24,020 Those are the fears, those are the thoughts 608 00:33:24,020 --> 00:33:27,020 that went through my mind just that fast. 609 00:33:29,020 --> 00:33:31,020 And I decided to risk it. 610 00:33:31,020 --> 00:33:33,020 And so I said, I'll go in and buy you some food. 611 00:33:33,020 --> 00:33:36,020 And so we went in and she said, what can I order? 612 00:33:36,020 --> 00:33:38,020 And I said, whatever you want. 613 00:33:38,020 --> 00:33:41,020 She looked at me like, wow, really? 614 00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:43,020 I said, yeah. 615 00:33:43,020 --> 00:33:46,020 So she ordered enough food for herself and for her boyfriend. 616 00:33:46,020 --> 00:33:48,020 And as we were waiting on the food, I said, 617 00:33:48,020 --> 00:33:50,020 can I go meet your boyfriend? 618 00:33:50,020 --> 00:33:52,020 She said, sure. 619 00:33:52,020 --> 00:33:55,020 So we went out to the truck, carried the food out there. 620 00:33:55,020 --> 00:33:58,020 And by this time he had gone somewhere and was back at the truck. 621 00:33:58,020 --> 00:34:01,020 I introduced myself to him and I spoke to both of them. 622 00:34:01,020 --> 00:34:04,020 And I said, God loves you both so much. 623 00:34:04,020 --> 00:34:07,020 And by the way, I found out that she has in the past 624 00:34:07,020 --> 00:34:10,020 regularly attended an evangelical church here in town. 625 00:34:13,020 --> 00:34:17,020 And I said, God loves you both so much. 626 00:34:17,020 --> 00:34:20,020 He doesn't want you living this way. 627 00:34:20,020 --> 00:34:23,020 God has so much more for you than this. 628 00:34:23,020 --> 00:34:25,020 Would you let us help you? 629 00:34:25,020 --> 00:34:27,020 I gave them the information about a church. 630 00:34:27,020 --> 00:34:29,020 They may be here this morning in this service. 631 00:34:29,020 --> 00:34:31,020 I don't know. They said they would be here today. 632 00:34:33,020 --> 00:34:37,020 Here's my point as I close this message. 633 00:34:37,020 --> 00:34:41,020 I didn't really think about being available as I went over to McDonald's. 634 00:34:41,020 --> 00:34:44,020 I'd been preparing a sermon on being available. 635 00:34:44,020 --> 00:34:49,020 I went to have lunch and come back and continue my sermon preparation 636 00:34:49,020 --> 00:34:51,020 on being available to God. 637 00:34:51,020 --> 00:34:54,020 And God just stepped right in there and said, 638 00:34:54,020 --> 00:34:59,020 this is the person that I want you to tell something to. 639 00:34:59,020 --> 00:35:04,020 I told him as much as the situation would allow for in that circumstance. 640 00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:06,020 And I learned something. 641 00:35:06,020 --> 00:35:08,020 And I hope you'll learn from my experience. 642 00:35:08,020 --> 00:35:10,020 I hope you'll learn from my experience. 643 00:35:10,020 --> 00:35:15,020 That whatever we're doing, wherever we're going, we can tell. 644 00:35:15,020 --> 00:35:18,020 And all we have to do is be available. 645 00:35:18,020 --> 00:35:24,020 And tell what God wants us to tell and trust the Holy Spirit to take it from there to the next step. 646 00:35:24,020 --> 00:35:26,020 What are you going to do in 2008? 647 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:28,020 What are you going to do this week? 648 00:35:28,020 --> 00:35:30,020 To whom is God sending you? 649 00:35:30,020 --> 00:35:32,020 Maybe it's a short-term missions trip. 650 00:35:32,020 --> 00:35:34,020 Maybe it's a short-term mission trip. 651 00:35:34,020 --> 00:35:36,020 Maybe it's a short-term mission trip. 652 00:35:36,020 --> 00:35:38,020 Maybe it's a short-term mission trip. 653 00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:42,020 Maybe it's to another people vocationally. 654 00:35:42,020 --> 00:35:47,020 Maybe it's across the street or to your buddy at school. 655 00:35:47,020 --> 00:35:56,020 Last Monday, a guy who went to high school with was driving a truck in Idaho 656 00:35:56,020 --> 00:36:01,020 in a blinding snowstorm and smashed into the back of another semi. 657 00:36:01,020 --> 00:36:04,020 They airlifted him to the hospital. 658 00:36:04,020 --> 00:36:06,020 He died on the way. 659 00:36:06,020 --> 00:36:19,020 Larry was the one person out of my whole class that I had clearly shared the gospel with. 660 00:36:19,020 --> 00:36:28,020 He turned around, walked away, and rejected the message that I know he heard. 661 00:36:28,020 --> 00:36:32,020 Be available to God this week. 662 00:36:32,020 --> 00:36:36,020 I hope you'll sing with me this soul chorus, I surrender all. 663 00:36:36,020 --> 00:36:40,020 And as you do this, say to God, I'm available, Lord. 664 00:36:40,020 --> 00:36:43,020 Let's sing it together. 665 00:36:43,020 --> 00:36:57,020 I surrender all 666 00:36:57,020 --> 00:37:05,020 All to Thee my life's the same old 667 00:37:05,020 --> 00:37:13,020 I surrender all 668 00:37:13,020 --> 00:37:27,020 I surrender all